Reach - The Results Are In! (Well... Some of them..)

Photos courtesy of my friend, Don M Photography

I went with the 'urban chic' scarf. Snazzy, no?
Don and I alternated a bit. He sang and shared the heart behind
the song, and I read, sharing the heart behind the book.
Hmm... I look like I'm keeping time here... 

To end the evening, Don played softly while
I read the last poem.

Okay. Here's the deal. 


'Reach... for a change' happened. It took a really long time to plan. (a year) And it's not like we were planning the Super Bowl or something...  I was just being a hesitant little chicken. 


ANYway. 


You saw the fundraising thermometer on the side, right? The goal to raise $10,000 was made long before any events were planned. And there was no way we'd raise that much with one event - at least, not without God's miraculous intervention. I was hopeful and prayed for that intervention. 


I also tried very, very hard to leave my expectations at the door. Yes, God can totally pack the house and rain money and fill the place with His presence. But is that the plan? I mean... sometimes a successful mission looks like a Savior on a cross. A successful event look like anything...

I'll cut straight to the numbers 

before you die of curiosity. 

The small crowd intimate gathering was encouraged and uplifted as hoped for.
Funds raised were modest, amounting to  $457.36, and 1 child was sponsored. 


I have to really work with myself to celebrate this yield. I keep reminding myself that these results are only a piece of the good that has and will come from this event. 


Yes, it's small. But God works with that. He infuses the insignificant with his power. Get away from me, disappointment! You have no place here. This was given to us to do. The results are God's job and He'll  not fail.  ...Would I be disappointed right now if I really believed that?  

Okay. Believing exercise. 

Dear self: have you forgotten? Well remember!!  

It was a success because He is in it! .... remember?

-People were led to pray over individuals and the event as a whole: GFA volunteers and staff in Ontario, friends and family in Manitoba, even friends in Bolivia and Spain! The hearts of each participant and attendee were prayed over for weeks, right up to that night.


-That Don Amero came on board at all is a clear indication that God is at the healm. It was a 'friend of a friend of a friend' kind of thing, and the timing was just right for Don. Under other timing or circumstances, he would have passed. Isn't that cool?


-That this would have begun as a book tour for ... excuse me, a poetry book... is really kinda crazy when I think about it. Who in their right mind, as a first-time author and never-ever-speaker-in-public, would decide, 'Yes. A book tour and multiple speaking engagements sounds fantastic'. WHAT?! Totally God.


-That a poetic compilation would form my story is something I did not foresee. I couldn't have planned it. Again, God's timing.


-Even the evening of the event, Don, Jack and I - without rehearsing or even discussing with each other what we would say (!!) found our words and hearts overlapping. As Jack (GFA rep) put it, it's amazing how 'God has feathered it all together".


-And the money raised will alter the lives of I don't know how many. The life and family and potentially even village of that one child sponsored will be changed - eternally. God has begun a work. Through one.

... and that's only the stuff we see and know about!! I can't begin to imagine what God will all do.

Ah, yes. I remember now. 


Thank you Lord that you are in control. This IS yours. Forgive me for my ungrateful heart and pride. Thank you for the generosity of those who came, and for all those who prayed. Thank you for moving in hearts, and for changing the life of that newly sponsored child. Thank you for feathering it together. And thank you for teaching me obedience, gratitude and humility. More of you Lord, less of me. 

And thank YOU. You prayed. You came, gave, helped.

You read all about it, interested in what God is doing. 

The words are small

yet big.

Thank you.